44 year old Mommy/Lifestyle blogger lets Social Media fans decide if she should let her hair go gray or keep dyeing it to appear younger.

Julie Anderson, author of the humorous “Chubby Mommy Running Club” blog is letting her Twitter and Facebook followers decide the ultimate vanity question for women of a certain age: should I let my hair go gray, or keep dyeing it so I look younger?”

Eugene, OR August 20, 2010: Julie Anderson, a mommy blogger known as @juliejulie on Twitter, is putting the color of her hair in the hands of her readers. She’s letting them vote for or against letting her hair go gray, and she’ll do whatever they decide. The voting is open until September 15, 2010.

Anderson, a consultant who has worked in the Tech industry for many years, is used to broadcasting little snippets of her daily life to the nearly 7,000 people who follow her across various social media platforms. She shares her humorous stories about dealing with middle aged angst and trying to stay in shape on her blog “Chubby Mommy Running Club” several times a week.

“I started writing my blog in 2006,” says Anderson, “but my hair has been going gray for about 10 years. The older I get, the faster it grays! I got tired of going in to the salon every 2 months to maintain the illusion, and started thinking about what I’d look like if I just let it go.”

When she started writing about her hair on the blog, her reader numbers shot up, “I guess I struck a nerve. I was surprised at how many people were so interested in my hair, and so opinionated about what I should do with it. I was really on the fence about going gray, so I thought it’d be fun to put it up for a public vote.”

She put a survey up on her blog and invited her readers to vote on the question “Should @juliejulie let her hair go gray all the way?” and to her surprise, the “No’s” took an early lead, and have been holding steady, with 60% of voters saying no, and 40% saying yes so far.

“I’ll work with a hair stylist either way,” says Anderson. “If I have to go gray, I’ll need help with the process. I’m not brave enough to go through the grow-out on my own. I’m already going nuts with the 2” root line as it is.”

And of course, she’ll write about the experience.

“Sure, I’m vain,” says Anderson, “but I’m also interested in what people think about image, aging and the health and beauty standards we’ve set up for ourselves over the past 40 years. In a way, all my little stories are about these things. The hair color issue boils it down into an easy thing to understand.”

Anderson recently moved back to Eugene, Oregon, where she grew up, a place famous for both being the birth place for Nike, and a hotbed for the counter-culture, natural living hippies who came in the 1960’s and 70’s and stayed.

“As soon as I moved back home, I noticed many more women in their 40’s and 50’s walking around with gray hair. Some of them are really into the hemp clothing and patchouli oil thing, but many of them are just like me – professional, fashion-minded women who stopped dyeing their hair. It made me think about my own self-image, and how I want people to perceive me. I don’t mind getting older, but I do like looking younger. But at what cost? Who am I trying to impress, and why?”

Anderson’s husband of 17 years is also on Twitter, and thinks she should go gray, just to see what it looks like. “He voted yes, and told me to go for it, and that I could always dye it again if I hate it.”

Voting is open to anyone, and is being tallied by “Survey Monkey” which only allows one vote per reader. Anderson plans to make a series of videos of the experience, which she’ll post to her blog and YouTube, for all the world to see.

About the author

juliejulie

I'm quite sophisticated, really. For more information: julieanderson at hotmail.com
It all seems rather amusing, if you ask me.

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I'm a 43 year old mommy who works in the tech industry, and runs. Sometimes. My mantra? "Try, not cry!"
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